Channellock Announces 2019 Trade School Trade-Up Winners

First place received $5,000, tools, and classroom makeover

MEADVILLE, Penn. — A Wisconsin high school welding program’s generous and thoughtful contributions to its community helped it take first place in the Channellock® Trade School Trade-Up competition. The competition challenges students to create a one-of-a-kind video showcasing their team’s technical skills in action. Videos are judged based on creativity, passion for their respective trade, and the impact made on their community with the help of Channellock® tools. Teams must be made up of students in auto, plumbing, welding, electrical, or HVAC trades.

Channellock Inc., presented first-place to Ladysmith High School in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, with a prize of $5,000 cash, new tools for students and their classroom, and a Channellock^® classroom makeover. The school’s welding program was chosen for its unique video highlighting its welding program and the improvements and contributions it has made to its city. Those include silhouettes for its city veterans memorial, railings for city parks, downtown bike racks, and repairing burned out grills in city parks. Students in the program have also created numerous sign art pieces and metal frame tables that they've donated to community organizations for charity auctions.

“We believe in educating the future of our skilled workforce in America,” said Jon DeArment, president and chief operating officer of Channellock, Inc. “Trade School Trade-Up was created to give students in trade schools an opportunity to showcase their abilities and demonstrate the value of career and technical education. Channellock, Inc., is dedicated to helping close the national skills gap by equipping the future tradesmen and women of America with tools for success. We hope this program inspires trade school students to give back to their communities and be proud of their craft.”

Channellock, Inc., selected the top three submissions and released them for social media voting. Once all the votes were in, Ladysmith High School was awarded first-place after receiving the most social media likes for their video submission.

“The investment CHANNELLOCK^®is making in our students and welding program will have a huge impact not only now, but for years to come,” said Kyle Jeffress, welding instructor at Ladysmith High School. "The extra resources will allow us to take our program and our projects to the next level. This will go a long way for our students as we do our best to make them college and career-ready. The return on investment will be so significant that it is impossible to measure.”